Abraham Lincoln and the Illinois Central Railroad, main line of mid-America

973.7L63 Corliss, Carlton Jonathan,
B6C813a 1888-

Abraham Lincoln and the

Illinois Central Railroad,
Main Line of Mid-America.

LINCOLN ROOM

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
LIBRARY

MEMORIAL

the Class of 1901

founded by

HARLAN HOYT HORNER

and

HENRIETTA CALHOUN HORNER

Abraham Lincoln

and the

Illinois Central Railroad

MAIN LINE OF MID-AMERICA

By
CARLTON J. CORLISS

Lincoln of the Illinois Central

The Illinois Central may well be proud of Abraham Lin-
coln— not because he afterward became President of the
United States, but because as an attorney he served his client
superlatively well.

— Paul M. Angle, Historian and
Lincoln Biographer

There are persons still living who remember seeing Abraham Lin-
coln— so recently was he among us — yet, already more books have
been written about him than about any other American. Nearly
every biography of Lincoln contains references to his employment
by the Illinois Central Railroad. Some biographies give consider-
able emphasis to this phase of Lincoln's career; others give it little
more than passing attention.

Aside from his public service — as state representative, as Con-
gressman, and finally as President of the United States — Lincoln
spent more time in the service of the Illinois Central than in that of
any other employer. And he received from the Illinois Central not
only the largest law fee of his career but also more in fees than he
received from any other source — public or private — before becom-
ing President of the United States.

The territory now served by the Illinois Central Railroad was
Lincoln's home country. This is the only railroad that links Hod-
genville, Kentucky, his birthplace, with the outside world. Abra-
ham's boyhood home in Spencer County, Indiana, is not far from
the present Illinois Central lines to Evansville, Indiana, and Owens-
boro, Kentucky. As a river boatman who made two trips to New
Orleans, Lincoln was not unacquainted with Paducah, Memphis,
Vicksburg, Natchez, and Baton Rouge. On one of his trips he tar-
ried for some time in New Orleans, the first large city he ever
visited.

From the time Lincoln and his family left Indiana in 1830 until
1861, when he became President of the United States, this farm boy.

LINCOLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

mill hand, boatman, store clerk, surveyor, postmaster, legislator,
lawyer, and statesman lived in Illinois and traveled extensively
about that state. He was a familiar figure in Vandalia, Springfield,
Clinton, Bloomington, Chicago, Freeport, Peoria, Lincoln,* Pana,
Galena, Mattoon, Champaign, Centralia, Pekin, and other Illinois
Central cities and towns.

As already pointed out, Lincoln took keen interest in the Illi-
nois Central project from its inception. When he was a member of
the state legislature his influence and his vote helped to incorporate
the first Central Railroad Company in 1836. In 1837 he took a
leading part in the passage of the ambitious internal improvement
scheme, of which the Central Railroad was the backbone. As a mem-
ber of Congress he introduced several memorials and resolutions
and addressed Congress in behalf of the land-grant bill designed
to promote the construction of the railroad.

What part, if any, Lincoln played in the struggle for the railroad's
charter in 1850-1851 has long engaged the interest of Lincoln stu-
dents. In the absence of documentary proof, reliance has been
placed on hearsay and circumstantial evidence, which is contra-
dictory and inconclusive. These facts, however, are well established:
Lincoln was in Springfield while the Illinois Central charter was
under consideration in the legislature, and he was actively inter-
ested in legislation before that body. The overwhelming vote in
favor of the Rantoul charter (23 to 2 in the Senate and 72 to 2 in the
House) would seem to be an indication that if Lincoln took part in
the struggle he was in the Rantoul camp.

No uncertainty surrounds Lincoln's employment by the Illinois
Central as attorney during the period from 1853 until his nomina-
tion for the Presidency in 1860. During this eight-year period Lin-
coln handled numerous cases for the Company in the courts of the
Eighth Judicial Circuit in central Illinois and no fewer than eleven
cases before the Supreme Court of Illinois. He also represented the
Company in an important case tried in the Federal Court in Chi-
cago.

The Eighth Judicial Circuit was then composed of eight coun-
ties, f Six of these counties — McLean, DeWitt, Macon, VVoodford,

• Lincoln, the seat of Logan County. Illinois, was the first tewn in the United
States to be named for Abraham Lincoln, who in 1839 fathered the bill creating the
county. The county was named by Lincoln for Dr. Jehn L»gan, ©f Murphysboro,
father of General John A. Logan.

+ Reduced to five counties in 1857.

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Vermilion,* and Champaign — were traversed by the charter lines
of the Illinois Central, and it is believed that Lincoln represented
the railroad in all of them. In the three counties for which records
are available — McLean, DeWitt, and Champaign — Lincoln rep-
resented the railroad in at least fifty court cases between April, 1853,
and October, 1859. At Clinton, in a single day— May 16, 1854— he
appeared for the Illinois Central in seven cases.

The first known court action in which Lincoln represented the
Company was Illinois Central Railroad vs. Jonathan Howser, a
right-of-way case, tried before Circuit Judge David Davis at Bloom-
incrton on April 16, 1853, In this case, as in subsequent court ac-
tions in McLean County, Lincoln was associated with General
Asahel Gridley, local attorney for the Company. In DeWitt and
Champaign counties the local attorneys were Clifton H. Moore and
Henry C. Whitney, respectively. In nearly all cases tried in the
courts of these counties Lincoln was associated with these local at-
torneys.

Lincoln's fees in suits tried in the circuit courts were in most
cases exceedingly modest, measured by modern standards. For
instance, from Bloomington on September 23, 1854, Lincoln wrote
Solicitor Mason Brayman that he was drawing on the Company for
$100, saying:

The reason I have taken this liberty is that since last fall, by your
request, I have declined all new business against the road, and out of
which I suppose I could have realized several hundred dollars. Have
attended, both at DeWitt and here, to a great variety of little business
for the Company, most of which, however, remains unfinished, and [I]
have received nothing. I wish now to be charged with this sum, to be
taken into account on settlement.

The "great variety of little business" to which Lincoln referred
consisted of cases involving trespass, right-of-way, property damage,
injury to livestock, freight claims, and so on.

On September 14, 1855, Lincoln wrote James F. Joy, the general
counsel of the Illinois Central:

I have today drawn on you in favor of the McLean County Bank . . .
for $150. This is intended as a fee for all service done by me for the
Illinois Central Railroad since last September within the counties of
McLean and DeWitt. Within that time ... I have assisted for the

• Vermilion County then included all of what is now Ford County.

UNCOLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

Road in at least fifteen cases (I believe one or two more) and I have
concluded to lump them off at ten dollars a case.

The most celebrated case which Lincoln ever handled for the Il-
linois Central, and the one which has attracted the greatest interest
among Lincoln students and biographers, was Illinois Central Rail-
road Company vs. the County of McLean and George Parke, Sheriff
and Collector, commonly known as the "McLean County Tax
Case." Taxing officers of several counties through which the rail-
road was being built contended that the unique tax provision in
the charter, requiring the Illinois Central to pay the state a charter
tax representing a percentage of its gross earnings, in lieu of other
taxes, related only to state taxes and did not affect ad valorem or
other taxes levied against the railroad by the counties.

On this assumption, local tax officers assessed the value of Illi-
nois Central property in McLean County in 1852, then consisting
almost entirely of right-of-way, at $53,682. Thereupon the county
tax collector attempted to collect $428.56 in taxes from the Com-
pany. On refusal of the Company to pay the taxes, in view of the
charter provision, a court order was issued directing Sheriff Parke
to advertise and sell the property of the railroad to raise the taxes
levied.

At this juncture the Illinois Central, through Attorneys Brayman
and Gridley, filed a bill for an injunction restraining the sheriff
from carrying out the court order. Although the sum involved in
the McLean County case was insignificant, the case was recognized
as one of the most important before the courts of Illinois at that
time.

If the courts should decide that the charter tax provision was un-
constitutional, then the state would suffer loss- of what promised to
be, and what later proved to be, its most important source of
revenue. In this respect the suit was of more concern to the state
than to the Illinois Central. If the court should decide in McLean
County's favor, then evci) county, town, and municipality through
which the Illinois Central ran would be able to levy property taxes
against the Company. If the state tax were ruled out and local taxes
were ruled in, then the Illinois Central might be substantially
benefited by the court decision. However, if the court should decree
that the charter tax provision was constitutional and must remain
in force, and that county and other local taxes could also be levied
against the Company, then the Illinois Central would be shouldered

MAIN LINE OF MID-AMERICA

with an ovenvhelming tax burden — far greater than that imposed
upon any other railroad in the United States.

Soon after Brayman and Gridley filed their injunction proceed-
ings, Brayman sought to engage Lincoln as an associate in the case.
The two were old friends and neighbors. Brayman regarded Lincoln
as one of the ablest lawyers in Illinois.

That Lincoln was fully aware of the significance of the case is
clearly shown in the following letter which he wrote from Bloom-
ington, September 12, 1853, to T. R. Webber, clerk of the Cham-
paign County Court:

On my arrival here ... I find that McLean County has assessed the
land and other property of the Illinois Central Railroad for the pur-
pose of county taxation. An effort is about to be made to get the ques-
tion of the right to so tax the Company before the court and ultimately
before the Supreme Court, and the Company is offering to engage me
for them. As this will be the same question I have had under considera-
tion for you, I am somewhat trammeled by what has passed between
you and me, feeling that you have the first right to my services. . . .

The question in its magnitude to the Company on the one hand and
the counties in which the Company has land on the other, is the largest
law question ... in the State; and, therefore, in justice to myself, I
cannot afford, if I can help it, to miss a fee altogether. If you choose to
release me, say so by return mail. ... If you wish to retain me . . .
come directly over in the stage and make common cause with this
county.

Webber referred the matter to County Judge J. B. Thomas, rec-
ommending the employment of Lincoln. Judge Thomas fully ap-
proved and suggested that Webber go immediately to Bloomington
prepared to engage Lincoln with a retainer up to $50 and to con-
tract for "a fee in proportion to the importance of the claim,"
even up to $500. Evidently these negotiations fell through and
Lincoln was released from his obligation to Webber, for on Oc-
tober 3 Lincoln wrote Brayman from Pekin, Illinois: "Neither
the County of McLean nor anyone in its behalf has made any en-
gagement with me in relation to its suit to the Illinois Central Rail-
road on the subject of taxation — I am now free to make an engage-
ment for the road, and if you think fit you may 'count me in!' "

Brayman lost no time. On October 7 he sent Lincoln a check for
$250, saying in his letter that it was to be a general retainer, "other
charges to be adjusted between us as the character of the business in
which you may be called upon to engage may render proper."

LINCOLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

As clearly shown by the language of Brayman's letter, the retainer
fee was not applicable solely to the McLean County Tax Case, but
was to engage Lincoln to represent the railroad in other law mat-
ters as well. Hence Lincoln's statement in his letter of September 14,
1855, already quoted, that "since last fall, by your request, I have
declined all new business against the road."

The McLean County injunction proceeding came up before
Judge Davis in November, 1853, John M. Scott appearing as at-
torney for the county, and Brayman, Gridley, and Lincoln appear-
ing as counsel for the Illinois Central. After a hearing the bill for
injunction was dissolved and the suit was dismissed. This was in
effect a decision in favor of the county.

At this juncture Lincoln wrote James F. Joy, the attorney in
general charge of the case, "I believe I can get the Supreme Court
to reverse the Court's decision." Joy replied, "Go ahead." The ap-
peal to the December, 1853, term of the Supreme Court, signed
"Brayman, Joy, and Lincoln," is in Lincoln's handwriting, even to
the signatures. The case was argued before the Supreme Court of
Illinois in February, 1854, and again in January, 1856, by Joy and
Lincoln for the Illinois Central and by Stephen T. Logan and John
T. Stuart, former law partners of Lincoln, for the County of Mc-
Lean. A more distinguished group of lawyers could hardly have
been found in Illinois at that time.

In a decision announced early in 1856, the Supreme Court held
that it was within the constitutional power of the legislature to im-
pose a gross revenue tax payable to the state in lieu of local ad va-
lorem taxes. Students of the case agree that the court's decision
turned upon a point in Lincoln's argument.

Probably the most frequently discussed aspects of the McLean
County Tax Case have been Lincoln's fee for services and his sub-
sequent suit against the Illinois Central for the collection of that
fee. Some time during the early part of 1856, after the Supreme
Court had handed down its decision, Lincoln presented his bill to
the Illinois Central. Whether his original bill was for $1,000 or
$2,000 or $5,000, as has been variously reported, is not known; but
it is definitely known that his bill as finally presented was for $5,000.
This was by far the largest fee Lincoln ever collected from any
client for his services as a lawyer. Even today lawyers' fees of this
size are not common. In Lincoln's day tliey were extremely rare.
Few lawyers in America could command fees of this size. Indeed,

MAIN UNE OF MID-AMERICA

it is said that the largest fee ever collected by the eminent lawyer
Rufus Choate was $2,500.

Probably the most exhaustive study ever made of the personal
finances of Abraham Lincoln was conducted by Dr. Harry E. Pratt
and published in 1943 under the title The Personal Finances of
Abraham Lincoln. According to this authoritative source, Lincoln's
fees prior to the McLean County Case, in the majority of cases, were
from $10 to $30. Rarely was his fee larger than $50, and in only
three cases on record was it above $100. The largest fee Lincoln ever
received up to 1855 was in the Truitt murder case in 1838, when
he andiiis law partner, John T. Stuart, received and split $500.

With Lincoln's reputation as a lawyer greatly enhanced by the
fact that he was in the regular retainer of the Illinois Central Rail-
road, the leading corporation in the state, he was able to command
larger fees. In September, 1855, he is reported to have received a fee
of $1,000 in the so-called Reaper Case {McCormick vs. Manny et
al) tried in Cincinnati; and in 1857 he received $500 for his serv-
ices in the Rock Island Railroad Bridge Case.

The annual salary of the governor of Illinois was then $1,500;
that of the chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, $1,200; and
that of Circuit Judge David Davis, $1,000. Therefore, Lincoln's
$5,000 fee in the McLean County Case was equal to the salary of the
governor of Illinois for three and one-third years; that of the chief
justice for more than four years, or that of a circuit judge for five
years. It compared with a salary of $2,000 a year received by Solici-
tor Mason Brayman, who employed Lincoln in the McLean County
Case, and a fee of $1,200 received by James F. Joy for his services
as chief counsel in the case. Viewed against this background, it is
readily understandable why officers of the Illinois Central may have
been hesitant about paying Lincoln's bill.

A much-discussed question in connection with this case has been
whether Lincoln's suit against the Illinois Central to collect his
$5,000 fee was friendly or unfriendly. Some biographers, including
William H. Herndon, Lincoln's law partner, have maintained that
Lincoln brought his suit in a vengeful spirit because of an alleged
slighting remark by some officer or employee of the Company.

On the other hand, those who maintain that the suit was friendly
advance the theory that the law officers of the Company, all of
whom were close friends of Lincoln, felt that they would likely be

UNCCLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

criticized by the directors in New York if they should pay so large a
fee to a lawyer without a contest.

But there was another reason — almost entirely overlooked — why
it might have been embarrassing to pay such a large fee at that time
without being sued for it. By 1856 the English shareholders had
become keenly interested in the Company's affairs. Their repre-
sentatives and agents who visited America minutely examined the
Company's accounts. These representatives did not hesitate to
criticize the management and offer suggestions for economies. At
this particular time they were advocating economies in order to
forestall the necessity of further stock assessments. This pressure
from abroad was undoubtedly a factor in the situation.

There are several versions of the story of Lincoln's suit against the
Illinois Central for the collection of his fee. Perhaps the one most
widely accepted is found in Herndon's biography, which says:

Probably the most important lawsuit Lincoln and I conducted was
one in which we defended the lUinois Central Railroad in an action
brought by McLean County, Illinois, in August, 1853, to recover taxes
alleged to be due the county from the road. The road sent a retainer fee
of |250. In the lower court the case was decided in favor of the railroad.
An appeal to the Supreme Court followed, and there it was argued
twice and finally decided in our favor. This last decision was rendered
some time in 1855. Mr. Lincoln soon went to Chicago and presented our
bill for legal services. We only asked for $2,000 more. The official to
whom he was referred — supposed to have been the Superintendent,
George B. McClellan, who afterwards became the eminent General —
looking at the bill expressed great surprise. "Why, sir," he exclaimed,
"this is as much as Daniel Webster himself would have charged. We
cannot allow such a claim." Stung by the rebuff, Lincoln withdrew his
bill, and started for home.

Herndon was writing from memory, years after the incidents took
place. As might be expected, his memory did not always reflect the
true facts. For one thing, he recalled that in the lower court the case
was decided in the railroad's favor, when the opposite was true. His
statement that the Supreme Court handed down its decision some
time in 1855 was also in error; the record shows that the final argu-
ments before the court were made on January 16-17, 1856, and the
decision was handed down at some later date. Herndon disagreed
with himself concerning the episode. For instance, in a lecture de-
livered in Springfield in 1866 on an "Analysis of the Character of
Abraham Lincoln" he said Lincoln "presented his bill to an agent

8

MAIN LINE OF MID-AMERICA

— whiskered-ringed-mustachioed-curly-headed finely-dressed, pom-
pous, silly little clerk. This thing in boots made this remark to Mr.
Lincoln — 'Why, sir, Daniel Webster would not have charged that
much.' "

At one time Hemdon had Lincoln presenting his bill "to an offi-
cial, supposed to have been the superintendent, George B. McClel-
lan," and at another time to "a silly little clerk." Obviously, Hem-
don was wrong about McClellan, for at the time Lincoln presented
his bill McClellan was a captain of engineers in the United States
Army busily engaged in writing a report to the Secretary of War
on French, Prussian, and Russian military tactics. He was not of-
fered a position with the Illinois Central until November, 1856,
and he did not resign from the Army to enter the service of the rail-
road until January, 1857, several months after Lincoln is known to
have presented his bill.

It is now definitely known that Lincoln's bill was presented to
John M. Douglas, who had succeeded Mason Brayman as solicitor
of the Company. Douglas was a former Galena mining lawyer, a
close friend of Lincoln, and was recognized as one of the ablest law-
yers in Illinois. He later became president of the Illinois Central.
Douglas referred the bill to Ebenezer Lane, former justice of the
Supreme Court of Ohio, who was then resident director of the Com-
pany in general charge of the Law Department. Judge Lane referred
Lincoln's bill to President Osbom, who had then been in office only
a few months. On July 21, 1856, Osbom referred Lincoln's bill to
Joy with the following letter:

Herewith copy of bill presented by Mr. Lincoln, to which I have re-
plied that I know nothing of the circumstances of the case and
enclose the same for information from you of the ground and merit of
his claim. Will you please advise how much should be paid to Mr.
Lincoln?

Osbom was noncommital; he neither approved nor disapproved
the bill, but sought background information from Joy. A few days
later Judge Lane wrote Lincoln saying that Douglas had referred
the bill to him and that since the case had been under Joy's direc-
tion, the bill had been referred to that gentleman. Thus we have
four high-ranking officers of the Illinois Central who were familiar
with Lincoln's bill — President Osborn, Resident Director Lane,
former General Counsel Joy, and Solicitor Douglas.

The files of the Illinois Central do not contain Joy's reply to Os-

LINCOLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

bom, and the record is not clear as to Joy's attitude toward Lincoln's
claim.

Referring to the matter many years later, Joy wrote: "I think
there would have been no difficulty with Lincoln's bill if I had
charged, as perhaps I ought to have done, $5,000. The time for such
fees as the lawyers now ask had not arrived, and my own charge for
the arguments in the case was only $1 ,200."

According to Joy, "the railroad company, after declining to pay
Lincoln the $5,000 he demanded because it thought the fee was too
large, made him this proposition: 'Bring suit against the Company
for the amount demanded, and no attempt will be made to defend
against it. If, by the testimony of other lawyers, it shall appear to be
a fair charge and there shall be a judgment for the amount, then we
shall be justified in paying it.' "

In the early years of the present century, John G. Drennan, Illi-
nois Central attorney, made an extensive study of all available ma-
terial relating to Lincoln's connection with the Company. He wrote
to nine judges and lawyers who had firsthand knowledge of Lin-
coln's suit for the $5,000 fee. Without exception, these men re-
plied that they were of the opinion that Lincoln's suit was of a
friendly nature.*

Since that time much new material bearing on Lincoln's rela-
tions with the Illinois Central has been discovered by Paul M.
Angle, Benjamin F. Thomas, and others. This material throws ad-
ditional light on Lincoln's suit against the Company and indicates
that while Lincoln may have started his suit in what might be
termed an unfriendly spirit, an amicable settlement was reached
while the litigation was in progress, and the suit was tried in a
friendly spirit.

What evidence is there to support this thesis? First, there is a let-
ter written by Lincoln to Steele and Summers of Paris, Illinois,
February 12, 1857, about three weeks after he filed his suit, which
indicates that he then doubted if he would be retained further by
the Company. He wrote: "I have been in the regular retainer of the
Company for two or three years, but I expect they do not wish to
retain me any longer. . , . I am going to Chicago . . . on the 21st

• The men referred to were Judge Anthony Thornton, former Governor John M.
Palmer, Adlai E. Stephenson, grandfather of the present governor of Illinois, Ezra M.
Prince, James S. Ewing, George Perrin Davis, Jonathan H. Rowell, Robert E. Wil-
liams, and Charles L. Capen.

10

MAIN LINE OF MID-AMERICA

inst., and I will then ascertain whether they will discharge me; and
if they do, as I expect, I will attend to your business. . . ."

On February 23, Lincoln conferred with Illinois Central officers
in Chicago, as planned, and, contrary to his expectation, was con-
tinued in the Company's retainer.

Equally significant is a letter written by Judge Ebenezer Lane to
President Osbom on May 14, 1857:

We can now look back and in some degree estimate the narrow
escape we have made . . . from burdens of the most serious character.
While Lincoln was prosecuting his lawsuit for fees, it was natural for
him to expect a dismissal from the Company's service . . . but before
our settlement with him the Auditor [Jesse K. DuBois] . . . ap
proached him with a view to retain him for the State for consultation.
Lincoln answered he was not free from his engagement to us, but ex-
pected a discharge. . . . Meanwhile we settled with Lincoln and for-
tunately took him out of the field, or rather engaged him in our inter-
ests.

The record shows that, while Lincoln's lawsuit against the Com-
pany for his $5,000 fee was pending, he appeared for the Illinois
Central in two court cases — one in De W^itt County in March and
one in Champaign County in April, 1857. Thus it is clear that he
not only remained in the service of the Illinois Central but con-
tinued without interruption to try cases for the Company.

When the case of A. Lincoln vs. Illinois Central Railroad Com-
pany was reached for trial^t Bloomington on June 18, no one ap-
peared for the railroad, and judgment went to Lincoln by default.
That afternoon Solicitor Douglas arrived. He told Lincoln that
default placed him in an embarrassing position and asked him to
permit the judgment to be set aside and the case retried. To this
Lincoln readily assented. The new trial was held on June 23, and
again the verdict was in Lincoln's favor. From the $5,000 awarded
in the case there was deducted the retainer fee which had pre-
viously been paid Lincoln.

Judge Charles L. Capen of Bloomington, at one time president of
the Illinois State Bar Association, who was in the courtroom, related
an amusing incident that occurred during the trial. "Mr. Lincoln
tried his own case," Judge Capen said, "and as he got up to speak to
the jury a button on his pantaloons gave way. Saying, 'Wait a min-
ute, boys, till I fix my galluses,' he took out a pocket knife, whittled
a stick and used that in place of a button, much to the amusement
of the jurymen and spectators."

11

LINCOLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

Biographers have pointed out that Lincoln's political activities
were closely related to his income from law practice and that the
$5,000 which he received from the Illinois Central Railroad in 1857
enabled him to finance his greatly increased political activities, in-
cluding his history-making debates with Douglas the following
year. Students of Lincoln are generally agreed that it was his de-
bates with Douglas in 1858 that put him on the road to the Presi-
dency.

The McLean County Tax Case and Lincoln's suit for fees in that
case have been highlighted by most biographers to the exclusion of
many other important services which he performed for the railroad.
In October, 1853, a few days after Brayman had engaged Lincoln
under a general retainer, Joy telegraphed Lincoln urging him to act
as arbitrator in a dispute between the Illinois Central and the
Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad (now the New
York Central) involving the rights of the two railroads at what is
now Grand Crossing, Chicago, then on the open prairie several
miles south of the city. This was a genuine compliment to Lincohi,
indicative of the high opinion in which the officers of the Illinois
Central held him, even in that early day. The fact that Lincoln was
in the regular retainer of the Company, however, arranged by
Brayman, presumably unknown to Joy, precluded him from sen'ing
as arbitrator in the crossing case.

In March, 1856, at the request of the Law Department of the
Illinois Central, Lincoln wrote an opinion on pre-emption rights
with respect to government land in the land-grant zones. This care-
fully prepared opinion set forth the law, precedents, and principles
involved with such clarity and logic that it has served from that day
to this as one of the important guideposts in this field of jurispru-
dence.

Curiously, one of the most important law cases Lincoln ever han-
dled for the Illinois Central Railroad, if not the most important case
in his entire professional career, went virtually unnoticed by his-
torians and biographers until it was discussed by Paul M. Angle,
executive secretary of the Lincoln Centennial Association, in 1929,
and by Charles LeRoy Brown, a Chicago attorney, in 1943. This
case was the State of Illinois vs. the Illinois Central Railroad,
brought by State Auditor Jesse K. DuBois in the fall of 1858 for the
collection of state taxes allegedly due for 1857, as provided in Sec-
tion 22 of the charter.

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MAIN LINE OF MID-AMERICA

The case hinged mainly Upon three questions: (1) the valuation
of Illinois Central property, (2) whether or not the property should
be valued on the same basis tor tax purposes as that of other rail-
roads in Illinois, and (3) whether the gross revenue tax of 5 per
cent provided in Section 16 of the charter and the state tax pro-
vided in Section 22 of the charter exceeded or could exceed an
amount equal to 7 per cent of the railroad's gross revenues.

It was with reference to this case that Judge Ebenezer Lane wrote
President Osborn May 14, 1857, while Lincoln's suit for fees was
pending, that DuBois had sought to engage Lincoln to represent
the state, but Lincoln had answered that he was not free from his
Illinois Central engagement.

At that time the country was heading into a depression. The out-
look was gloomy, and within a few weeks Osborn hurried off to
Europe in an effort to bolster confidence in Illinois Central securi-
ties. Then in October came the assignment, a desperate move on the
part of the officers and directors to save the Company from the bank-
ruptcy courts. The railroad was straining every possible effort to
keep the wolf from the door, while over its head, like the proverbial
sword of Damocles, hung the threatened suit of State Auditor Du-
Bois. If DuBois should press his suit and win, it might mean utter
ruin for the Company.

The Illinois Central enlisted Lincoln's aid in staving off the suit.
On December 21, 1857, Lincoln, in Bloomington, wrote his friend
DuBois:

J. M. Douglas of the I. C. R. R. Co. is here and will carry this letter.
He says they have a large sum (near |90,000) which they will pay into
the treasury now if they have an assurance that they shall not be sued
before January, 1859 — otherwise not. I really wish you would consent
to this. Douglas says they cannot pay more and I believe him. I do not
write this as a lawyer seeking an advantage for a client; but only as a
friend, urging you to do what I think I would do if I were in your situa-
tion. . . .

DuBois consented to withhold court action for the time being at
least, and the railway company paid the "near $90,000" on account.

Then came 1858, a year of depression for the Illinois Central and
other railroads, a year of decision for the country politically.

Stephen A. Douglas was then at the zenith of his fame and popu-
larity. His arrival in Chicago on July 9 following his great fight in
the Senate in opposition to the Lecompton constitution was "trium-

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LINCOLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

phant, impressive, thrillingt" A special train, gayly decorated for
the occasion, carrying four hundred enthusiastic Douglas partisans
and a brass band, bore the "Defender of Popular Sovereignty" up
the lake front to Great Central Station.

At Weldon shops of the Illinois Central Railroad, located at
Fourteenth Street, "the locomotives belched forth their roaring
notes of welcome. The hardy hands of the mechanics resounded
with applause, and cheers and huzzahs continued until the train had
passed on to the city."

Thirty thousand people gathered outside the Tremont House on
Lake Street that evening to hear Douglas reply to a recent speech by
Lincoln. The next evening Lincoln replied to Douglas from the
same platform. Thus, informally, began the great debates between
Lincoln and Douglas that were to echo around the world. Two
weeks later Lincoln formally challenged Douglas to a series of joint
debates. Douglas promptly accepted. For the next several weeks the
debates held the center of the stage not only in Illinois but through-
out the nation. Political excitement was at fever heat. Special trains
were run from Chicago, Galena, Springfield, and other points to
and from the cities and towns where the debates were staged. East-
ern newspapers sent their star reporters to cover the debates.

From Ottawa August 21 the scene shifted to Freeport August 27,
then directly south 300 miles over the Illinois Central to Jonesboro
September 15; then northward over the Illinois Central to Charles-
ton September 18; and then westward to Galesburg October 7, to
Quincy October 13, and finally to Alton October 15.

With Osborn spending most of his time in New York and Eu-
rope, Vice-President McClellan was the top man in Illinois. He was
a friend and admirer of Douglas and he is said to have gone out of
his way to accommodate the "Little Giant" in his campaign against
Lincoln. McClellan's office car, equipped with sleeping compart-
ments and dining facilities, is reported to have been placed at the
disposal of Douglas. Since it was the only office car on the railroad,
Lincoln did not fare so well. After all, wasn't Douglas a United
States Senator and the acknowledged leader of the Democratic
party, and wasn't Lincoln an Illinois Central attorney, who, travel-
ing on a pass, expected to take "pot luck" with other railroaders?

However, the way McClellan looked after Douglas and let Lin-
coln tend for himself did not sit well with Lincoln's warm personal
friend, DuBois. The state auditor regarded McClellan's action as

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reflecting the official attitude of the railroad, and he decided to even
the score. How else can we account for the fact that the day after
Douglas' victory over Lincoln at the polls, DuBois appeared before
the State Supreme Court and filed his long-threatened suit against
the Illinois Central for additional 1857 taxes which he claimed were
due the state? Later, DuBois brought similar suits for taxes alleged
to be due for 1858 and 1859.

As a result of this litigation, a group of state officers and appraisal
experts, made a nine-day tour of the Illinois Central Railroad dur-
ing July, 1859, to view and assess the property. The trip was made
in a special train, with Lincoln as host for the railway company. In
addition to Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln and their sons Robert and Tad,
the party included State Auditor DuBois and Mrs. DuBois; Secre-
tary of State O. M. Hatch; State Treasurer William Butler; Judge
Stephen T. Logan, special counsel for the state, and Mrs. Logan;
T. H. Campbell, attorney, and Mrs. Campbell; Ward H. Lamon,
attorney; and former Lieutenant-Governor John Moore. Every
mile of the railroad was covered in daylight hours. Business was
carried on, but it must^ave been a treat for the ladies and a lark
for Robert and Tad Lincoln.

The case came before the Supreme Court at Mount Vernon, Illi-
nois, November 18-19, 1859. At that time the tribunal was com-
posed of Judges Breese, Walker, and Caton. Among the principal
witnesses called by Lincoln were Vice-President McClellan,* Colo-
nel Roswell B. Mason, former chief engineer and general superin-
tendent, and Leverett H. Clarke, who had succeeded McClellan as
chief engineer.

This was probably one of the instances to which General Mc-
Clellan refers in his autobiography, McClellan's Own Story. "Long
before the war, when vice-president of the Illinois Central Railroad
Company," McClellan wrote, "I knew Mr. Lincoln, for he was one
of the counsel for the Company. More than once I have been with

•Senator Shelby M. Cullom, in his delightful reminiscences. Fifty Years of Public
Service, recalls that in one case in Judge Davis' circuit to which the Illinois Central
was a party, "it was announced that the Company was not ready for trial, and the
court inquired the reason, to which Mr. Lincoln replied that Captain McClellan was
absent. The court asked 'Who is Captain McClellan?" Lincoln replied that all he
knew about him was that he was the engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad." Sena-
tor Cullom commented: "What a strange juggling of destiny and fatel In little more
than two years McClellan's fame had become world-wide as the General in charge of
all the armies of the Republic. . . . Davis had become a Justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States, and Lincoln had reached the Presidency!"

15

UNCOLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

him in out-of-the-way county seats where some important case was
being tried, and, in the lack of sleeping accommodations, have spent
the night in front of a stove listening to the unceasing flow of anec-
dotes from his lips. He was never at a loss, and I could never quite
make up my mind how many of them he really heard before and
how many he invented on the spur of the moment."

An anecdote is told by Brown in connection with the Mount
Vernon trial. He relates that Lincoln, McClellan, and other partici-
pants made the sixteen-mile trip from the Ashley station of the Illi-
nois Central to Mount Vernon in a stage coach. In the coach was an
alert twelve-year-old Mount Vernon boy named Watson, who, be-
cause it was crowded, sat on Lincoln's lap during the journey, while
Lincoln and his friends kept everyone in an uproar with their
stories. The experience so delighted the boy that soon after his
arrival he hurried over to the hotel, hoping for more entertainment.
But, to his disappointment, he found Lincoln and McClellan in
serious conference.

The boy, grown to manhood, became a physician and as Dr. J. H.
Watson, ministered to the people of Mount Vernon for more than
fifty years. One of Dr. Watson's favorite stories related to his unique
experience in the stage coach.

The Supreme Court's decision, handed down in March, 1860, was
that the valuation of the Illinois Central for purposes of taxation
should be made on the same basis as that of other railroads in the
state. This was a victory for Lincoln and the Illinois Central. The
court found that the railroad's charter tax payments amounting to
7 f)er cent of its gross revenues were all that were lawfully due the
state. Commenting on this case, Brown said:

Measured by money involved, this service was by far the most impor-
tant of Lincoln's legal services. Measured by the obstacles to be sur-
mounted, those services were remarkable. . . . The decision rescued
the Company from foreclosure and financial collapse. Had the Illinois
Central failed in 1860, it would have been disastrous to the State of
Illinois. No re-organized corporation would have agreed to pay the so-
called 7 per cent charter tax.

Still another suit in which Lincoln represented the Illinois Cen-
tral was known as the "Sand Bar Case" {Johnson vs. Jones and
Marsh), involving the title to property originally a sand bar, occu-
pied in part by the Illinois Central on the Chicago lake front. This
case was tried before Federal Judge Thomas Drummond in Chicago

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in April, 1860. Associated with Lincoln on defense counsel was
Melville W. Fuller, later Chief Justice of the United States. The
trial lasted two or three weeks, during which Lincoln had an oppor-
tunity to make influential friends and strengthen his political fences
on the eve of the "Wigwam" Convention held in Chicago the follow-
ing month — the first national convention ever held by a major po-
litical party in Chicago and the first Republican Convention to pick
a winning candidate. That candidate was Abraham Lincoln of Illi-
nois. It was while trying the Sand Bar Case that Lincoln sat for
Hesler, the photographer, and also for Volk, the sculptor.

Reference has been made to the climactic debates between Lin-
coln and Douglas in the campaign of 1858. Historians generally
agree that the decisive note in the debates was struck at Freeport.
That morning Lincoln, with his friends and advisers, Joseph Medill,
editor of the Chicago Tribune, Norman B. Judd, chairman of the
Republican State Central Committee, andCongressmanE.B. Wash-
burne of Galena, arrived from Dixon on a special Illinois Central
train of twelve crowded cars. They were met at the station and ac-
companied to their hotel by 2,000 enthusiastic citizens and a band.

It was while traveling on the train from Dixon to Freeport that
morning that Lincoln is reported to have reached an important de-
cision. After leaving Dixon he handed Medill a sheet on which he
had written four questions which he proposed to ask Douglas. Me-
dill studied them carefully and then advised Lincoln to omit the
second question: "Can the people of a United States territory, in a
lawful way . . . exclude slavery from its limits prior to the forma-
tion of a State constitution?" The question, Medill felt, would play
into Douglas' hands by giving him an opportunity to expound his
popular sovereignty theory.

Lincoln looked out the train window for a while in meditation.
Then he turned to Medill and said, "Joe, I respect your advice, but
I can't go along with you on that question; I intend to spear it at
Judge Douglas this afternoon." As the train sped on, Medill sought
Washburne and Judd and told them of his conversation with Lin-
coln. All three then went to Lincoln and sought to dissuade him.
Lincoln took their advice good-naturedly, but informed them that
his mind was made up. That afternoon, before a cheering throng of
twenty thousand people, while Medill, Judd, and Washburne lis-
tened with bated breath, hoping the fateful question would be
omitted, Lincoln hurled all four questions at Douglas.

17

LINCOLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

When Douglas arose, he answered them in the order asked. To
Question 2 his reply was: "In my opinion the people of a territory
. . . have the lawful means to introduce it [slavery] or exclude it
as they please, for the reason that slavery cannot exist a day or an
hour anywhere unless it is supported by local f>olice regulations."

Douglas' straightforward answer no doubt expressed his honest
convictions, but it pleased neither the North nor the South and it
had the effect two years later of splitting the Democratic party and
thus making Lincoln's election possible.

Three years later, in the White House, Lincoln and Medill were
reminiscing. Lincoln recalled the incident on the train en route to
Freeport and asked Medill if he remembered it. "Yes, clearly," said
Medill, "and while Douglas' reply to your question ruined his
chance of becoming President, it elected him to the Senate." Lin-
coln nodded. "Yes," said he, "and now I have won the place he was
playing for."

At Jonesboro, the southernmost debating point, Lincoln was the
house guest of his friend D. L. Phillips, Illinois Central land agent,
whom Lincoln later, as President, appointed United States Marshal
for southern Illinois.

Notwithstanding the favoritism which McClellan displayed to-
ward Douglas in the 1858 senatorial campaign, Lincoln had many
warm friends in the Illinois Central organization who, like Phillips,
supported his candidacy for President in 1860. He had no firmer
friends than John M. Douglas, then head of the Law Department,
and John Wilson, land commissioner of the railroad. After his
nomination we find Lincoln writing his friend Colonel R. W.
Thompson of Terre Haute: "I wish you would watch Chicago a
little. They are getting up a movement for the 17th inst. I believe a
line from you to John Wilson . . . would fix the matter. . . ."

Reviewing Lincoln's career as a lawyer and the important part
which the Illinois Central played in training and conditioning him
for leadership, the prestige he acquired as a result of his prominent
connection with the Company, the important contacts which he
made as a result of this connection, the large fee he collected for his
services, and his greatly increased income resulting from his Illinois
Central employment, we are led to wonder how much these factors
contributed to his advancement to the Presidency.

President William McKinley once said of Lincoln: "The best
training he had for the Presidency, after all, was his twenty-three

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years' arduous experience as a lawyer traveling the circuit of his
district and state. . . . Here he met in forensic conflict . . . some
of the most powerful legal minds of the West."

When the War Between the States was finally brought to a close
and millions of Americans, North and South, were rejoicing over
the return of peace, the nation was again plunged into grief by the

■O"^.

— V

(-l^ Ucu 7 «dM*.

Above drawing from A Man for the Ages, by Irving Bacheller, Copyright 1919, 1946,
used by special permission of the publishers. The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.

tragic act of the madman Booth. Lincoln was dead. Then came the
historic journey of the flag-draped train bearing the mortal remains
of the martyred President to his home in Springfield. While thou-
sands of silent and tearful Chicagoans occupied vantage points along
the lake front, the funeral train entered the city over the Michigan
Central and Illinois Central roads, which he had so often traveled
in life, through Kensington, Grand Crossing, Woodlawn, Hyde
Park, and Oakland to Park Row, where the casket was transferred

19

LINCOLN OF THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

to a catafalque drawn by six white horses. Passing beneath a series
of memorial arches erected for the occasion, the cortege moved into
Michigan Avenue, thence to Lake Street, so rich in Lincoln associa-
tions, then westward to Dearborn and southward to the City Hall.
Two days later, the train completed the homeward journey of this
Man of the Ages, whom Judge Walter Malone of Memphis, author
of "Opportunity," characterized as

A blend of mirth and sadness, smiles and tears,
A quaint knight-errant of the pioneers;

A homely hero born of star and sod;

A Peasant Prince; a Masterpiece of God!

20

Compliments of the

X

ILLINOIS CENTRAL

'

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA

973.7L63B6C813A C001

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND THE ILLINOIS CENTRAL

3 0112 03

799296